Everyday Adventures: Babies and Cords
Her little sprout was getting quite mobile. At the ripe age of 7 months, he had begun crawling. After two days of getting that mastered, he decided to pull up and cruise the furniture, mind set on walking.
With his new found mobility came a whole new world to explore. Places that had never been interesting before were suddenly lands filled with endless possibilities and treasures. This little explorer was unearthing things the rest of us had long since forgotten about (or would have liked to forget about.)
What was a mere remote control to her was to him a magical device that lights up when he touches it and makes the box on the wall change pictures.
What was to her a cup of coffee was to him a funny shaped container that held a mysterious and fowl smelling substance that made his mom very happy to drink.
What was to her a piece of dirt off of a shoe was to him a mystery that would only be solved by immediately putting it into his mouth.
The opportunity to rediscover the world through her son's eyes was something she cherished. To watch the wonder on her son's face as he discovered things that had long since become mundane to her was recapturing and increasing her own sense of wonder at the world around her. This stage of life was a lot like watching a sunrise - it seems slow in a way because the immensity and brilliance of it all is so much to take in that before you know it the moment of dawn is upon you and you realize how quick it really happened.
The whimsy ended however the day her darling son discovered cords.
They had done their best to baby proof. They hid what they could, moved what they could, and plugged up what they could. The cord to lamp was one that, despite their best efforts, could not be hidden. It couldn't be relocated to a place where he could not reach it without putting it up entirely. They had considered it, but the evenings really needed that light that was in between complete light and complete darkness. So every single day her son would crawl over to the lamp and start to pull on the lamp cord. He would yank and yank and typically if she didn't get to him in time, he would pull it out of the wall socket. Sometimes he would find where it went into the lamp and pull on it there, nearly toppling it over on himself time and again. For months that seemed like years, they would do this dance. He would crawl to the cord. Pick it up. She would tell him no. Take his hand off of it and try to redirect him. Sometimes she would sit in front of it or on it in a desperate attempt to not do this for one night.
One particular night, she and her son were both done. His curious mind and inability to communicate was leaving him very frustrated. Her grated nerves and inability to communicate was leaving her very frustrated. If for no other reason than to make herself feel better, she started explaining to him," Sweetheart, I can't let you play with that." Over his exasperated squaks, she continued: "I know the cord seems really fun, but it could hurt you. I want you to have fun. I want you to enjoy yourself. I really do. But I can't let you play with something that will hurt you."
In that moment Holy Spirit whispered to her heart, "Do you know how many times I say that to you? I am the God of fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. But I won't let you play with something that will hurt you."
Thoughts started clicking into place. Was the cord doing her son damage in this moment? No. The danger wasn't in the moment. The danger was in where this moment could lead. As his parent, she couldn't allow him to fiddle with something that wasn't killing him in this moment, because a lifestyle of not treating serious things seriously could kill him. Sure in this moment, he was fine. He wasn't hurting anything or being hurt by anything. But the more she allowed him to treat something dangerous as a toy, the more she was creating a situation where serious damage could be done.
"One candy bar won't hurt anything."
"Listening to that song one time won't kill you."
"Watching that show is not that big of a deal."
She started hearing all the things she routinely said. How many metaphorical cords was she playing with because she did not see harm right now?
She took a deep breath, saddened by the ugly in her heart that was staring her in the face. She felt grace and mercy meet her in that moment in the loving embrace of The Gracious and Merciful One. She knew that repentance meant changing the way you think and without it she was destined to keep playing with cords. She took that moment right there on the floor with her squaking son to confess her plight to the Lord. Picking up her son, she could feel the atmosphere had changed for the both of them. Feeling safe and loved, her son quieted in her arms as she quieted herself in the arms where there is complete safety and unending love.
With his new found mobility came a whole new world to explore. Places that had never been interesting before were suddenly lands filled with endless possibilities and treasures. This little explorer was unearthing things the rest of us had long since forgotten about (or would have liked to forget about.)
What was a mere remote control to her was to him a magical device that lights up when he touches it and makes the box on the wall change pictures.
What was to her a cup of coffee was to him a funny shaped container that held a mysterious and fowl smelling substance that made his mom very happy to drink.
What was to her a piece of dirt off of a shoe was to him a mystery that would only be solved by immediately putting it into his mouth.
The opportunity to rediscover the world through her son's eyes was something she cherished. To watch the wonder on her son's face as he discovered things that had long since become mundane to her was recapturing and increasing her own sense of wonder at the world around her. This stage of life was a lot like watching a sunrise - it seems slow in a way because the immensity and brilliance of it all is so much to take in that before you know it the moment of dawn is upon you and you realize how quick it really happened.
The whimsy ended however the day her darling son discovered cords.
They had done their best to baby proof. They hid what they could, moved what they could, and plugged up what they could. The cord to lamp was one that, despite their best efforts, could not be hidden. It couldn't be relocated to a place where he could not reach it without putting it up entirely. They had considered it, but the evenings really needed that light that was in between complete light and complete darkness. So every single day her son would crawl over to the lamp and start to pull on the lamp cord. He would yank and yank and typically if she didn't get to him in time, he would pull it out of the wall socket. Sometimes he would find where it went into the lamp and pull on it there, nearly toppling it over on himself time and again. For months that seemed like years, they would do this dance. He would crawl to the cord. Pick it up. She would tell him no. Take his hand off of it and try to redirect him. Sometimes she would sit in front of it or on it in a desperate attempt to not do this for one night.
One particular night, she and her son were both done. His curious mind and inability to communicate was leaving him very frustrated. Her grated nerves and inability to communicate was leaving her very frustrated. If for no other reason than to make herself feel better, she started explaining to him," Sweetheart, I can't let you play with that." Over his exasperated squaks, she continued: "I know the cord seems really fun, but it could hurt you. I want you to have fun. I want you to enjoy yourself. I really do. But I can't let you play with something that will hurt you."
In that moment Holy Spirit whispered to her heart, "Do you know how many times I say that to you? I am the God of fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. But I won't let you play with something that will hurt you."
Thoughts started clicking into place. Was the cord doing her son damage in this moment? No. The danger wasn't in the moment. The danger was in where this moment could lead. As his parent, she couldn't allow him to fiddle with something that wasn't killing him in this moment, because a lifestyle of not treating serious things seriously could kill him. Sure in this moment, he was fine. He wasn't hurting anything or being hurt by anything. But the more she allowed him to treat something dangerous as a toy, the more she was creating a situation where serious damage could be done.
"One candy bar won't hurt anything."
"Listening to that song one time won't kill you."
"Watching that show is not that big of a deal."
She started hearing all the things she routinely said. How many metaphorical cords was she playing with because she did not see harm right now?
She took a deep breath, saddened by the ugly in her heart that was staring her in the face. She felt grace and mercy meet her in that moment in the loving embrace of The Gracious and Merciful One. She knew that repentance meant changing the way you think and without it she was destined to keep playing with cords. She took that moment right there on the floor with her squaking son to confess her plight to the Lord. Picking up her son, she could feel the atmosphere had changed for the both of them. Feeling safe and loved, her son quieted in her arms as she quieted herself in the arms where there is complete safety and unending love.
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